1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, in which a refill cartridge (consumable goods) or a replacement part that is accorded a right to emit greenhouse gas (GHG) is used for global environmental concerns.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, global environmental conservation is demanded worldwide, and the global warming conference takes initiative in putting into force the emissions control on greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Under this circumstance, efforts are made to deal with reductions of CO2 from general electronic apparatuses including printers, and pertinent patent applications are filed.
For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2007-249563 is an example invention of an information processing apparatus including a printer, which allows setting of a target value of its consumption of a resource such as sheets of paper, forecasts a future amount of its resource consumption based on the current status of its resource consumption, stops consuming the resource if it is impossible to attain the target and issues a report for the target to be accomplished.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-006696 is an example invention that translates an amount of power consumed during a certain period of time of use of an image forming apparatus and an amount of a refill cartridge consumed by the image forming apparatus during the same period of time into CO2, encourages a recommendable mode for reducing CO2 emissions, and forecasts improvement in CO2 emissions.
However, the examples described above, each of which either outputs a report for reduction of resource consumption or forecasts improvement in CO2 emissions, can merely guide the user of the apparatus toward accomplishing the goal of tightening resource consumption by notifying the power consumption status, etc. to the user, or can merely notify a carbon dioxide emissions status corresponding to the use of the apparatus to the user to remind the user of a mode of use of the apparatus that will lead to reductions of emissions. That is, these examples do not propose an electronic apparatus according to the present invention, which can use a refill cartridge or a replacement part that is sold with a right to emit greenhouse gas attached (by the manufacturer), recognizes that a cartridge or a replacement part with such an emission right is mounted thereon, and displays the degree of its eco (ecology (global environmental protection)) accomplishment and guidance or navigation about greenhouse gas.